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Review: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

You know what’s difficult in Hollywood? Making a good sequel. You know what’s even harder? Making a good comic book sequel. Even Marvel’s massive cinematic universe couldn’t hide the disappointed grumblings after the release of 2013’s Thor 2: The Dark World and Iron Man 3.

That brings us to Marvel’s latest film Captain America: The Winter Soldier – the sequel to 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger.

Two years after the events in Avengers we find Captain America (Chris Evans) in Washington D.C working for S.H.I.E.D alongside Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). While rescuing S.H.I.E.L.D agents being held hostage, Cap learns Nic Fury (Samuel L Jackson) is hiding a secret. That secret is Operation Insight – a trio of Helicarriers programmed to eliminate whatever targets deemed to be a threat. Insight’s carriers are basically predator drones on steroids.

After Fury catches on that someone is planning to exploit Operation Insight, he’s ambushed by a group of men lead by a shadowy assassin known only as The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan). Following Fury’s attack, S.H.I.E.L.D official Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford) labels Cap a fugitive. Cap, now on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D, can’t trust anyone so he enlist help from Black Widow and his new friend Sam Wilson aka Falcon (Anthony Mackie). The three are left alone to stop Operation Insight from launching and contend with The Winter Soldier.

One of the biggest complaints from The First Avenger was how it lacked action for a film about a super soldier. Don’t worry, Captain America: The Winter Soldier makes up for that and more with action in the first 10 minutes that continues the film’s final showdown – even Nick Fury gets in on the action.

The film balances an interesting story (one of the best stories Marvel’s told) and the big budget action comic book fans are accustomed to these days. There’s a story that focuses on Cap being on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D and it isn’t just filler in between shield tosses and gun battles, it’s an interesting espionage story with different threads of the Marvel universe woven in. The man-on-the-run from his organization plot isn’t new. It’s a classic Bond tale, but it’s also not the type of story we get in our comic book movies.

Marvel’s aware people aren’t paying to see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy so the story doesn’t detract from the action. There are plenty of gigantic action pieces (some you see in the trailer) with jaw dropping effects, but the best action is the hand-to-hand combat – especially between Captain America and The Winter Soldier. It’s the best choreographed fighting Marvel has done. One of the big changes since Avengers is showing the creative ways Cap can use his shield during a fight. From his freighter fight with George Batroc (George St. Pierre) to his final battle versus The Winter Soldier, Cap uses his shield like it’s an extension of his body. The shield work is amazing even when he’s just blocking punches or breaking his fall.

The film’s best action sequence is an incredible freeway fight scene. It’s not Matrix Reloaded, but Cap, Black Widow, and Flacon vs. The Winter Soldier and his henchmen go all out in the middle of traffic. It’s an awesome sequence that showcases an array of weapons, hand-to-hand combat, and somebody getting tossed across the freeway.

Sebastian Stan steals the show as The Winter Soldier. Not only in the freeway fight scene but his presences is felt the entire movie. I’m not sure Stan has a full page of dialogue but it’s hard to take your eyes off him whenever he’s onscreen. The way he dispatches people is very Terminator-ish with a dash of Bane’s physical prowess. The Winter Soldier’s brute strength, weapon skills, and disregard for human life are on full display when he takes out an Air fleet the way a toddler would kick over building blocks.

Anthony Mackie gets to show off his skills in a big budget summer movie. He’s got some great action scenes and he nails all his jokes as the film’s comic relief guy. Mackie is one of Hollywood’s most underrated actors. Hopefully his role as Falcon will be exactly the exposure he needs to get the accolades he deserves.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is 2nd on my list of Marvel movies and just above Iron Man. Its set the bar high for comic book sequels and remind moviegoers that summer starts when Marvel says it starts.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate.